Why do we need a BRP-CR?

There is an increasing need for rehabilitation worldwide as a result of:

1. more people ageing or living longer lives
2. an increase in non-communicable diseases (eg. Stroke, diabetes, osteoarthritis)
3. ongoing consequences of conflicts and injury

Many people in low to middle income countries do not have access to the rehabilitation care they need. In some of these countries, there are less than 10 skilled rehabilitation practitioners for a population of 1 million. This is worse in primary health care (PHC) and low resource settings.

One of the ways to solve this problem of access to rehabilitation care is to train existing health workers to provide a limited set of rehabilitation interventions in a process called task sharing.

The main purpose of the BRP-CR therefore is to integrate rehabilitation into the care delivered by existing health workers in PHC. This is done by providing guidance on how to identify rehabilitation needs, deliver a limited set of rehabilitation interventions and refer to other rehabilitation, medical and social services.                                     

Who is this resource for?

The BRP-CR is mainly targeted at the existing health workforce (doctors and nurses) in PHC and low resource settings, where rehabilitation workers are limited or unavailable.  It is designed to guide the clinical decision-making of existing health workers, enabling them to identify rehabilitation needs and provide basic rehabilitation interventions.

Rehabilitation workers may also find this resource useful in clinical practice as well as in training, support and supervision of healthcare workers providing rehabilitation.

Additionally, professionals responsible for developing training in rehabilitation may consider the practical approaches and concepts used in this resource.

Policy makers and health-care managers as well as non-governmental organizations and other advocacy agencies may also use this resource to plan the financial aspects of services.